Golf balls



April 1964 L. F. MUCCINO 3,130,974

GOLF BALLS Filed Aug. 1. 1960 INVENTOR, A; M

AT QR M5 vs United States Patent M 3,130,974 GOLF BALLS Louis F. Muecino, Blind Brook Lodge, Rye, NX. Filed Aug. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 46,333 4 Claims. (Cl. 273216) This invention relates to golf balls.

Golf balls, as customarily manufactured, usually com prise a small spherical core which is surrounded by a layer of rubber strand wound thereon under tension, which in turn, is surrounded by a layer of molded cover material.

The qualities and characteristics of golf balls are importantly influenced'by the layer of tensioned rubber strand, and manufacturers of golf balls give considerable attention to the characteristics of the rubber strand, as well as to the tension applied to the strand during the winding operation. In general, it is true that for any given rubber strand, the greater the tension applied during the winding operation, the higher the compression within the ball, the more lively the ball and the greater the distance travelled by the ball when subjected to a given driving impact by a golf club.

Golf ball manufacturers, therefore, in making top quality balls, tend to wind the strand at maximum tension permissible within the tensile strength of the rubber, thus producing a high compression ball. Such balls are favored by expert golfers, particularly those who hit a long ball, but many less expert golfers, or those who have neither the strength nor the ability to hit a long ball find such high compression balls hard and undesirable. They prefer a softer ball, and manufacturers have sometimes met this need by winding the rubber strand at less than maximum tension to produce balls of less compression. This has been done, however, at some sacrifice of the maximum potential for driving distance.

With respect to the rubber strand, it is customary to indicate the maximum permissible tension which can be applied without breaking the strand in terms of elongation. That is, a rubber strand which can be tensioned sufiiciently to be elongated to only eight times its original length without breaking is said to have an elongation of 800%, while one which can be elongated to a maximum of only ten times its original length is said to have an elongation of 1000%.

It is known that rubber may be compounded to provide more or less tensile strength and more or less elongation. In general, as the tensile strength of the rubber used in a rubber strand is increased, the elongation is decreased. Moreover, it is known that rubber strand of very high tensile strength, if wound at maximum tension, produces a ball of very high compression, but a ball which is so hard or stony as to be undesirable. Consequently, the tendency has been to choose a rubber of medium tensile strength and medium elongation. As an example, a rubber which is widely used in golf ball manufacture has a tensile strength of 3300 psi. and an elongation of 1000%.

According to the present invention, I propose to form a golf ball by winding simultaneously two strands of different tensile strengths, i.e., one strand of very high tensile strength but relatively low elongation, and one strand of lesser tensile strength, but relatively greater elongation.

In some cases I prefer to apply maximum permissible tension to each strand by stretching each strand to its maximum permissible elongation. In other cases I apply less than maximum tension to one or both strands. For example, I may apply maximum permissible tension to the strand of higher tensile strength and substantially less than maximum permissible tension to the strand of lower tensile strength. In still other cases, I may apply less than maximum permissible tension to both strands.

By choosing among these alternatives, I am able to produce a variety of degrees of hardness.

I have discovered, however, that by winding simultaneously two strands of different tensile strength I obtain a ball of greater liveliness for any given compression than is obtained from a ball of the same compression wound from a single strand. That is, a ball having a compression value of and wound with two strands of different tensile strength will be more lively and will travel further when subjected to a given driving impact than a ball of 90 compression formed by winding either strand singly.

Or, to put the matter in a different way, a ball wound with two strands of different tensile strength, having a compression value of 60, will be as lively and will travel as far as a ball of higher compression formed by winding either strand singly.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which the figure is a side elevation of a partially wound golf ball as it appears during the winding gplelration, partly in section to show the interior of the Example 1 Two strands of rubber thread 1 and 2 were selected, each strand being .017" in thickness and 7 in width. One strand was a rubber thread manufactured by Woonsocket Rubber Thread Company and having the following physical characteristics:

Tensile strength 3300 psi. Elongation 1000%.

Specific gravity .95.

Modulus of elasticity 500%200 p.s.i. Schwartz test 165.

The other strand was a rubber thread manufactured by Easthampton Rubber Thread Company and having the following physical characteristics:

Tensile strength 4500 psi. Elongation 800%.

Specific gravity 98%.

Modulus of elasticity 500%--650 n.s.i. Schwartz test 200.

The said strands 1 and 2 were wound simultaneously around a conventional so-called liquid center core 3 having an outside diameter of 1 Each strand was led to the winding station through a separate tensioning device 4, 5 so that the tension applied to each strand might be separately controlled. The winding machine used was conventional except for the provision of two tensioning devices. During the winding operation the tensioning devices were adjusted to apply substantially maximum permissible tension to each strand. That is, the first strand was tensioned to provide an elongation of approximately 1000% and the second strand was tensioned to provide an elongation of approximately 800%. The ball was wound to an outside diameter of 1.59" and a conventional balata cover was then applied in the conventional manner.

The finished covered ball was tested and found to have a compression of 90.

The finished covered ball was then subjected to driving tests in comparison with two conventional balls. One of these balls was made by winding a single strand of rubber thread identical to the Woonsocket thread above described around a conventional liquid center core identical to that above described. The other ball was made by winding a single strand of rubber thread identical to the Easthampton thread above described around a conventional liquid center core identical to that above described. In each case the thread was subjected to substantially maximum Patented Apr. 28., 1 964 permissible tension. Each ball was covered with a con ventional balata cover applied in the conventional manner. The ball wound from the Woonsocket thread had a compression of 90 while the ball wound from the Easthampton thread had a compression of 90.

In driving tests in which the three balls above described were driven repeatedly, the two strand balls made according to the present invention consistently outdistanced the conventional single strand balls by from five to twenty five yards when subjected to substantially equal driving impact.

Example II Two strands of rubber thread of characteristics similar to the two strands of Example I were again selected.

The said strands were wound simultaneously around a conventional liquid center core identical to those described in Example 1. Both threads were led to the winding station through a single tensioning device which was adjusted to apply substantially maximum permissible tension to the Easthampton strand. That is, each of the strands was elongated approximately 800%, this being the maximum permissible elongation for the Easthampton strand, but somewhat less than the maximum permissible elongation for the Woonsocket thread. The ball was wound to an outside diameter of 1.59" and a conventional balata cover was then applied in the conventional manner.

The finished covered ball was tested and found to have a compression of 60.

The ball was then subjected to driving tests in coming impact travelled substantially equal distances, al-

though the two strand ball occasionally outdistanced the conventional balls. However, the two strand ball-had a 4 much softer feel than the higher compression single strand balls.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A golf ball comprising a spherical core, a layer of tensioned rubber surrounding said core, and a cover in contact with and surrounding said layer of tensioned rubber, said layer of tensioned rubber comprising two separate strands of rubber of different tensile strength, each of said strands extending throughout said layer.

2. A golf ball as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said separate strands of rubber is subjected to substantially maximum permissible tension.

3. A golf ball as claimed in claim 1 in which one of said separate strands of rubber is subjected to substantially maximum permissible tension, and the other of said separate strands of rubber is subjected to less than maximum tension.

4. A golf ball as claimed in claim 1 in which the separate strand of rubber of higher tensile strength is subjected to substantially maximum permissible tension, and the separate strand of rubber of lower tensile strength is subjected to less than maximum tension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A GOLF BALL COMPRISING A SPHERICAL CORE, A LAYER OF TENSIONED RUBBER SURROUNDING SAID CORE, AND A COVER IN CONTACT WITH AND SURROUNDING SAID LAYER OF ENTSIONED RUBBER, SAID LAYER OF TENSIONED RUBBER COMPRISING TOW SEP- 